Wine/Cheese #1: The Interview

Don't worry, this isn't a wine experience watching North Korea's favorite flick. I interviewed for a PhD candidacy this past weekend in Microbiology at Virginia Tech. The weekend included an interview with faculty, a retreat to meet and network with grad students...

and an open bar.


Roanoke Railhouse Track 1 Amber Lager


One of the newer breweries I've seen, founded in 2009 in Roanoke. I'll be giving the place a visit soon.

Taste: nice amber color, kind of like a stained glass window. Malty at first, and the carbonation doesn't overwhelm.

Verdict: 4/5

Bucket list item #27: Drink beer on Virginia Tech's dime.

I'm a big fan of whoever cut this cheese.

Pairing wines and cheeses for the first time reminded me of something I pair a lot: chocolate granola bars and coffee. The coffee coats the chocolate well, giving a hazelnut smooth taste; think a full, chocolate coated espresso bean. Each one enhances the other.

mars and venus 2013 Merlot w/ Gouda cheese

I went with a brand I recognized here, but a different grape variety. Every single grape variety of mars and venus was there, so it's a good thing I haven't declared war against the winery yet.

Smell: like wood, freshly cut from a tree. fruit is there too, as always, plum and cherry

Taste: bold, fruity, and heavy tannins. The cheese helps make it less abrasive and less harsh to your taste buds.

Verdict: 3.5/4 

Wine Dinner #1: The Palisades

After almost four here, I've found the best eateries in Southwest Virginia are the best hidden.

Case in point: The Palisades Restaurant in Eggleston, Virginia, about 20 miles northwest of Blacksburg.

http://www.thepalisadesrestaurant.com/index.html

This shot doesn't reflect the soup of fog we went through to get here. 

A general store for the past 75 years, the place has been around since 2005, so very recent by Giles county standards. But the brick walls don't do the interior justice.

A nice little bar of regulars here. 

Random items line the shelves, giving an antique feel.

Wine's a lot better when you have a great date :)

Malbec Arido 2012(right)

The pizza is with pork tenderloin and gouda cheese. Paired with a red, meats are usually the way to go. Whites are usually paired better with fruits, lighter cheeses, yada yada yada.

Smell: blackberry and chocolate raisin like. Dark body that swirls in the glass real well. a bit bitter.

Taste: coffee-dark and smooth. It coats the beef/pizza very well, which lessens the wine's bitterness and gives the beef some extra flavor. Amazing!

Verdict: 4/5

Heavy Seas: Loose Cannon IPA

Heavy Seas Brewery is the mainstay of Maryland beers. It's what Devil's backbone is for Virginia: on tap everywhere you can find one. Begun out of Baltimore in 2003 by brewmaster Hugh Sisson, the brewery has grown into THE craft beer giant in MD.

Taste: The hops are all here: The Hop^3 name comes from x3 fermentations. It has a malt aftertaste that balances out the early hoppiness, and is one of the creamier IPAs. Always a solid choice at the bar.

Verdict: 3.75/5

Wine Sorcery Spot: The Wine Aerator

Going through my mom's wines back home in Richmond, Virginia, I came across this thing. It's called a wine aerator.
Think of it as an intermediate between the bottle and the glass. Like its name suggests, the aerator introduces more oxygen to the wine by swirling it quickly. If you swirl a glass with wine in it, its just a slower version of this process. It helps that the interior of this thing looks like a mini wine glass, too.

This is only done with red wines, since skin contact is what puts the tannins in, and whites don't do this.

The result? Lighter tannins and a boosted scent profile.

14 Hands Hot to Trot Red Blend 2012

Red Blend here is a mixture of Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. It's also my mom's favorite, so there's barrels of this in a vault somewhere.

Smell: cherry, and spice.
  -w/ aerator: stronger. You can smell it without sticking   your nose in the glass.

Taste: blackberry and raspberry, but with an abrasive, friction-y body.
-w/aerator- the same taste, but less grainy. smoother, and easier to drink. That's lighter tannins for you.

Verdict: 4/5

(15-19) What happens when your pourer is good

Got a different pourer this time, and it made a difference; portions were big enough that you could get a good feel for the wine's...well...feel, and small enough that I could drive home like a responsible adult. There's a reason people use spitbuckets for this.




Le Jade Sauvignon Blanc 2013

The official review by The Beverage Testing Institute describes this below:

"Lively aromas and flavors of pineapple, yellow apple, melon, and Meyer lemon with a silky, bright, dry-yet-fruity medium body and a tingling, complex, medium-long finish with notes of lemongrass, pear, and lemon with no tannins and no oak." 

Give that one your best Mr. Burns voice.

Smell: apricot and orange is all I got. But fruits seem to be the overriding smell in most whites.

Taste: Really light body, meaning it goes easy on the taste, feeling really smooth on the way in. I got the pear.

Verdict: 3.5/5



Petrucco Ribolla Gialla


Ribolla Gialla is a grape grown in the most northeastern region of Italy, or IT-LEE, as my grandma would say.

Smell: The subtle fruit smell is great here, how it hides. Kind of like an aftersmell, it that's a thing.

Taste: Sour to me, but not too overwhelming, which saves it. Pair it with something spicy Asian food, and you're set.

Verdict: 3/5









Riebeek Cellars Shiraz 2013

The Riebeek Valley in South Africa is often called "Shiraz Country." Keep in mind that shiraz and syrah are interchangeable when referring to grapes.

Smell: Very strong. I've learned that what I used to call the overwhelming "alcohol evaporating" smell is what the sommelier snobs call "smokiness."

Taste: Heavy, like its smell. Fruity too, with spice.

Verdict: 3.5/5 

Cortenova Primativo 2012

100% Zinfandel grapes here. Sounds Spanish, but it's Italian.

Smell: Very intense, like smelling a fresh bouquet of flowers. "It stings the nostrils."

Taste: Wow. This one goes down very smoothly, with a silent middle of the palate that reds usually reach. Raspberry and blackberry. This could go great just by itself, and is the first one I would call a "dessert wine".

Verdict: 4/5

Opera Prima Pink Moscato

Not again. This beats Mike's Hard Lemonade on the list of "things I ask my mom to buy." If this one was actually good, that is.

Smell: Like opening a box of mints.

Taste: What do you want me to say? The strawberry sparkling flavor changed my life? Since drinking it I've seen the Virgin Mary in my toast three times? The carbonation gave me the inspiration to solve world hunger? Don't be silly.


Verdict: 1.75/2

(14-18) Vintage Cellar Wine Tasting #3

For the record, the guy that was pouring wine last week(2/12) was a chump. He must have thought I was about to enter the priesthood or something with the portions he was giving. So it was tough to get a gauge on some of these.

If you want it done right...




Santa Luz Sauvignon Blanc 2013

Another Chilean white. I'm told Chile has really come onto the wine scene in the past decade, because no one wants llamas as their chief export. Or maybe that's Peru...

Smell: Apricot/orange. Notice a pattern? This means I need to open up the smell/taste palate a bit.

Taste: pear, with a good balance between bitter and sweet. Easy to drink.

Verdict: 3/5












Riebeek Chenin Blanc 2014

Speaking of the wine scene, South Africa is the place to watch now, with vineyards shooting up over there. They've successfully grown agave over there too, a plant previously native to Mexico. What is it used to make? Tequila, the beverage only George Clooney can down without making a face.

Smell: apple, and some other fruits I don't eat enough of to recognize.

Taste: Can taste the fruits in the mid palate, near the mid-back of the tongue. Needed more time w/ this.

Verdict:  ???










San Elias Carmenere 2014

Looks like a really dark bottle, right? This dark color comes from the skin of the grapes, not the juice (which is clear). The process of deriving this color is called maceration or skin contact, in which the tannins/colors are leached from the grape skins into the fruit juice. The longer you let purple/red grapes do this, the darker the color. So for white wines, we barely macerate, if at all.

Smell: Cherry. That's all I got.

Taste:  Like a chocolate bar with cherries inside. Damn Chile, you fine.

Verdict: 3.75/5









Ilurce Tempranillo 2008

Spain wasn't gonna sit this one out. Spain and its European counterparts were early producers of "old world" wines, which were meant to be paired with food. "New world" wines, like those in California, can be more standalone. No colonists dancing for gold required.

Smell: the alcohol is strong with this one. tough to smell.

Taste: dark plums, and licorice. Richer than Donald Trump's toupee guy. This didn't sit well with me as a novice.

Verdict: 2/5








Coastal Vines White Zinfandel 2013

Why is it pink? Because the skins of the Zinfandel grape produce very different colors based on how long they're under skin contact, from snow white to blood red. In this case, we call it "white" because the pinkish grapes used were in skin contact for just a short time.

Smell: strawberry/cherry. Very easy on the nose.

Taste: very balanced between tangy and not too tangy. I didn't wince when I drank it, so that's a good sign, right?

Verdict: 4/5

(13) mars and venus Chardonnay 2013

mars and venus Chardonnay 2013

This Chilean white has a nice, astronomically accurate label upon second glance. Don't ask why it's half empty. We've got a blizzard going over here...and well..you know.

Smell: a bit strong on the alcohol smell. But hints of apricot and orange.

Taste: much better than it smells. A great initial fruity taste of pear and lemon, but followed by a harsh tangy aftertaste. Given the price ($6.95), its a steal.

Verdict: 3.5/5